This eBook provides United Kingdom companies and entrepreneurs with an explanation of 12 crucial legal issues for selling to American customers.

Whether your company wants to sell directly to American consumers, structure a business relationship with an American partner, or establish an American branch, the decisions you make concerning these 12 issues will definitely influence the success of your business venture in the United States.

The eBook opens with specific insights from U.K. exporters about their “real world” experiences and practical advice about selling to the American market in response to these questions:

• Why the American market represented an opportunity?

• What were your primary legal issues/concerns/problems about selling to the American market? Why?

• What issue/concern/problem kept you up at night? Why?

• What’s the best advice you would give another U.K. company wanting to sell to/enter the American market?

Throughout this eBook, I’ve included numerous Case Studies involving U.K. companies and explained (in generic terms and with their permission) the situations we’ve worked through for three very specific reasons:

• First, I want to provide actual examples of how my clients and I have approached problems related to the issues covered in this eBook.

• Second, to illustrate that these legal issues apply to companies engaged in a wide range of industries – from industrial equipment to high technology to professional services.

• Third, I think it’s important that you get an understanding of the crucial decisions that must be made to successfully launch an American strategy.

The eBook concludes with what I consider to be invaluable inside advice from English executives about what they would do differently if they could go back in time and re-launch their American strategy.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. America’s most important national priority is the creation of jobs.

With the unemployment rate above eight percent for 30 consecutive months (including 22 months above nine percent) and 4.7 people for every one job opening, how can we create jobs?

Simple – unleash entrepreneurs to turn the unemployed into self-employed.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account employ over half of all private sector employees and have generated over 64 percent of net new jobs in America over the past fifteen years. The best way to create private sector jobs is to foster conditions that allow small business to flourish.

The government policy should be to encourage entrepreneurs and allow them to work efficiently within our capitalist system, make a profit, and ultimately create jobs. In addition, government should get out of the way by reducin g and removing barriers to the entrepreneur.

I’m the first to acknowledge that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Many people simply do not want to take the commitment, risk, and responsibility necessary to launch and maintain a successful small business. If the American entrepreneur is unleashed, they’ll create job opportunities for people just want to be employees.

The Internet makes it possible for every small business and entrepreneur to compete on a global basis. But cyberspace can also be a treacherous place to do business.

This booklet discusses 12 website legal issues that you should consider in structuring your online business strategy. As the world becomes more interconnected, it’s more important than ever to retain your competitive advantages and minimize your exposure to potential problems.

This post highlights 5 crucial decisions that every United Kingdom entrepreneur and small-business should consider when formulating their strategy to sell to American customers/clients.

Every entrepreneur and small-business owner wants to avoid uncertainty. These 5 crucial decisions will help you get clarity on the business and legal issues that impact your American strategy.

DETERMINE YOUR END-GAME IN ADVANCE

For U.K. companies, America represents a rich market with endless opportunities. Like any foreign market, it can also quickly become a maze. Before charging into an effort to enter the American market, I highly recommend that you determine your end-game in advance – how can you best monitize your entry into the American market?

Your ultimate objective may be to (i) generate some sales in a new market and test the waters, (ii) establish a relationship with an American agent or distributor, (iii) establish your own physical distribution facility in the United States, (iv) establish your own physical presence or manufacturing operation in the United States, or (v) some variation of the above.

This decision is crucial because it will shape all tasks that follow. For example, let me briefly contrast two strategies from the above list:

*Generate some sales in a new market and test the waters. This option is the least complicated and can be implemented quickly. Many U.K. companies can simply start generating U.S. leads by targeted internet marketing and search engine optimiszation. At the outset, you’re trying to determine how much of a market exists in the U.S. for your product/service and how you can best reach your target market. As you gather more experience with the American market, your focus may rapidly shift to one of the other options.

* Establish your own physical presence or manufacturing facility in the United States. This option is far more involved than testing the waters. You’ll need to determine the best physical location within the U.S., lease or buy a site, establish a U.S. entity, hire staff, comply with employment law and other legal requirements, and address local, state, and federal taxation issues.

The expense of implementing either strategy can be substantial and it certainly pays to get it right from the outset.

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET

What is your target market? Do you plan to sell: (i) directly to customers/clients, (ii) via an agent, (iii) through a distributor, (iv) in conjunction with a joint venture partner, or (v) through some other channel?

This decision also has far-reaching consequences. What works in the United Kingdome and the European Union may not necessarily work in the United States. Failure to identify your target market at the outset of your market entry strategy can result in a substantial waste of time, effort, and money. Plus, if your effort gets off on the wrong foot and results are slow, enthusiasm for the American market will decline as frustration inevitably builds. There must be an analysis of how to reach your customer/client in the most effective, most efficient, and most profitable manner.

UPDATE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I’m often asked to review contracts (including website Terms and Conditions) on behalf of U.K. companies that want to enter the American market. It’s been my experience that my U.K. client’s contracts are typically sound and only require minimal tweaking. Seldom has a comprehensive redrafting of the contracts been necessary.

Every U.K. company that enters the American market should take affirmative steps to protect their brand and intellectual property rights. Often, this step is simply overlooked and can lead to some very adverse outcomes. For example, failure to clarify how an American agent or distributor uses your brand or failure to clarify ownership of intellectual property rights (trademarks, tradenames, domain names, etc.) can lead to nasty disputes. You can’t effectively monitize your brand and intellectual property rights if these rights have been compromised or lost.

MINIMIZE EXPOSURE TO LAWSUITS

For almost every U.K. client that I counsel, this is a biggie. America has a reputation for being a litigious society – unfortunately this reputation is well-earned. Although you can never comletely pre-empt a potential American plaintiff from filing a lawsuit against you, there are several distinct actions that you can take to minimize their opportunities to do so.

First, include a pre-suit mediation provision that requires you and the potential plaintiff to mediate the dispute as a contractual precondition to them ever filing a lawsuit. Most disputes can be solved at pre-trial mediation without the expense and anguish that goes with defending a lawsuit. Second, include an appropriate choice of law and choice of forum provision in your contract that will require a lawsuit to be litigated in the United Kingdom courts, not an American court. Third, inclusion of an appropriate attorney’s fees provision in your contract will serve as a substantial deterrent to frivilous lawsuits.

Your attention to these five crucial decisions will substantially increase the likelihood of a successful entry into the American market.

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INITIAL CONSULTATION + FLAT FEE + GUARANTEE

For a limited time, I’m extending an initial consultation, flat-fee offer to United Kingdom companies that want to enter the U.S. market. In this inital consultation, I’ll do the following:

The flat fee for this initial consultation is GBP 400. Why do I charge a flat fee for this inital consultation? I’ve found that entrepreneurs and small businesses need solid legal advice on these issues, but simply can’t commit to a blank check when obtaining legal advice (especially when American attorneys charge an average of US$295 per hour). Thus, I’ve specifically itemized what a client will receive in this initial consultation in exchange for a reasonable, quantifiable fee.

Guarantee: If you’re not 100% satisfied, there is no fee. Period.

How do we get started? Contact me asap. Once I’ve obtained some initial information from you, my turnaround time for this initial consultation is two days.

Act now. This flat fee initial consultation is only valid until June 10, 2011.

This Insider Legal Brief Series addresses 9 legal issues that every company should address before selling to American customers. Your attention to the issues will facilitate smoother transactions, substantially reduce your exposure to lawsuits, and could save you a bundle. These issues are critically important to every company that sells through an internet website. Ignore these issues at your peril!

PRE-SUIT MEDIATION.

I’ve never advised a British client who was enthusiastic about the prospect of litigation in an American court. One of the best ways to avoid litigation in an American court is to include a pre-suit mediation provision in your contract. A pre-suit mediation provision sets forth a mandatory process for mediating a dispute, the applicable procedure, and how the parties will share the mediation costs.

If the parties to a civil dispute do go to court, the judge will require a mediation at some point in the litigation process anyway. Why not save the time, effort, and expense of litigation by first attempting pre-suit mediation? Plus, there’s a high likelihood that the dispute will get resolved at the pre-suit mediation stage – most do.

If you would like to discuss this issue further or have any questions, please feel free to contact me.